Machine for treating cotton-seed



V fwd (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. T. TAYLOR.

MACHINE FOR TREATING GOTTON SEED.

No. 306,292. Patented Oct. 7, 1884,

3 Sheets-Sheei; 2.

(No Model.)

T. TAYLOR.

MACHINE FOR TREATING GOTTON SEED.

Patented Oct. 7, 1884,.

\ WIIJV'ESSES (No Model.) I 3 SheetsSheet 3. T; TAYLOR.

MACHINE FOR TREATING COTTON SEED. No. 306,292. Patented Oct. 7, 18'84.

' UNITED STATES PATENT Unmet:

THOMAS TA LOR,oFwAsH NcroN, ms'rn o-r or COLUMBIA.

MACHINE IFOR TREATING COTTON SEED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 306,292, dated October 7, 1884. I Application filed July 8,135. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THoM'As TAYLOR, of \Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Treating CottonSeed; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and

to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon;

In Letters Patent of the United States No. 276,305, granted to me on the 24th day of April,

,1883, I described an improved. mode or process of treating cotton-seed, consistingin, first, drying the seed, then crushing it, so as to simultaneously break the hull and pulverize the kernel, and then separating the pulverized kernel from the hull particles and adherent fiber; and in the same patentI also-described V and illustrated a form of machine by which 4 positc sides.

the upper crushing-rolls.

the said process could be carried out. Since my said patent was issued I have been engaged in improving the machinery for carrying out the process, and after aseries of 'practical tests with machines of different construc tion I have adopted the form of machine hereinafter described because of its cheapness, compactness, and general vailability.

I will first describe the said machine at length with reference to the accompanying drawings, and will then point out its particularpoints of novelty in the claims at the end of this specificatio In thesaid drawings, Figures 1 and 3 are side elevations of the machine, taken from op- Fig. 2 is an end view of the machine. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of the blades oi the upper feeding-cylinder. Fig. 6 represents a longitudinal section of the ma chine. Fig. 7 isa perspective View of one of Fig. 8 is a plan view of a portion of the upper feeding-cylinder, showing the arrangement of blades thereon.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate the same parts.

ranged preferably in spiral lines, and so that the bl'ades'in one row stand opposite the spaces between the blades in the next succeeding row, as shown in Fig. 8. Each of the blades is provided with a shank, '1), adapted to be driven into the cylinder 0, (which latter is preferably made of wood,) and with an outer broad ened end, 6 which may be flat or corrugated, but is preferably constructed in concavo-convex form, as shown. in Figs. .4 and 5, and set so that as the ,cyli n d or rotates the concave side is to the front. The ends of'the bladesextend in close proximity to the concentric Walls of the chamber li, from which it results that when the hopper is filled with seed and the feeding cylinderset in motion, only so, much of the seed as is positively drawn from the throat of the hopper by the blades is allowed to be fed down and discharged onto the rollers D E, and it may be said in passing that the speed of the feedingeylinder is 'soregulated with respect to the speed and capacity of I the said rolls D E that only such amount of seed is supplied to the rolls as can be disposed of by the latter without permitting an accumulation of material upon them. The roll E extends from side to side of the machine, and is mounted sons to turn freely iufixed bearings. Its surface is provided with a number of longitudinal grooves or channels, which at one edge, e, are pref} erably rounded, and at the other, a, terminate rather abrn )tlv as shown in Fi s. (3 and 7. g

The roll I), on the other hann'l,*though extend ing from side to'side of the machine, has a substantially smooth surface, and is mountedin sliding boxes (Z, behind which are adjusting-screws d and interposedsprings (1". As

the seed is delivered onto the rolls DE a quantity of it is caught in turn in each ot'athe grooves of the roll E, and is carrieddowii between said roll E and thesmooth roll D.' The depth of the grooves is considerably less. than the thickness of the seed, and hence as the center or point of greatest pressure is reached the smooth roll is caused to yield slightly, and

' the space between the rolls being thereby momentarily increased the superposed layer of is squeezed so that its hull is cracked and'its kernel pulverized into coarse meal, while the seed that is operated upon by the smooth unbroken surfaces of the two rolls is also cracked and its kernel reduced, though more thoroughly and to a greater degree.

The grooves in the roll 11) are not designed to increase the crushing action of the rolls, except incidentally, as it has been demonstrated inpractice that plain smooth rolls are well adapted to effect the desired crushing, but are incapable alone of properly feeding or drawing the cotton-seed between them when set at the proper distance to crush." This is owing, in a great measure, to the nature of the material to be acted upon and its light adherent condition. It is to overcome this diffieulty in feeding and at the same time preserve the advantages of the smooth rolls that the grooves of the character described are formed in one roll. Thesegrooves are made shallow relative to the diameter of the seed in order that the latter may not be passed through unacted upon, and are formed with an abrupt shoulder or wall on the lower side, that the seed may not fall through, and with the gradually-inclined or tapering upper wall, that the seeds may be crushed thereon, instead of being cut. As the grooves in the roll E approach the opposite roll from above the seeds are received into the pockets thus formed, the space being increased at this point between the proximate faces of the rolls. The lower shoulder prevents any seed from passing entirely through, and asthe rolls continue to revolve the material, which is more or less matted and held together by the fiber, is drawn down into the bite of the rolls, the incline of the upper wall of the groove permitting the crushing action to continue without effecting at once a separation of the material in the grooves from the mass resting above and more or less connected by the fiber. After the material has passed through between the upper rolls, D IE, it descends between guides F F onto-and between thesecond pair of rolls, GH, which are mounted in the same manner as the upper pair of rolls, and only difier from the latter in construction in that the roll H has fewer and shallower longitudinal channels or grooves than the roll E above it, so as to afford agreater area of smooth surface for acting upon and crushing or grinding the kernel. The, lower pair of rolls areadj ustable closer together than the upper pair, and operate to reduce the hernel to much finer meal and to break and grind up finer the hull particles. Passing from the second pair of rolls, the material descends into a space or compartment bounded on one side by an inclined wall, I, and on the other by a concave wall,- .l', and containing a rotating feed-cylinder, ii, armed with pins or teeth I. The function of this l'eed-eylinderis to evenly and regularly feed the material to and between a cylinder and concave, M N, as shown, and its teeth are set tangentially and inclined from \the direction of rotation, so that while they willpositively draw the material down to the opening between the cylinder and concave they wilhnot retain upon them any of the fiber and become clogged, as they would were they set radially or inclined in the opposite direction. The function of the cylinder and concave is to thoroughly disengage the meal from the hull particles and adherent fiber. They are both serrated or toothed, as shown, and the concave is rendered capable of being setat any desired adjustment by means of suitable set-screws, O. For convenience, the concave J is mounted or formed upon the concave J, and is adjusted to or from the feed-cylinder K, to conform to the adjustmentof the serrated concave N with respect to its co-operating cylinder. Below the cylinder and concave is arranged an inclined revolving screen, S, the upper portion of which is prefe ably covered with wire-cloth of liner mesh, while itslower portion is covered with wire-cloth of larger mesh. On the passage of the material from the cylinder and concave into and down through this revolving screeu,the higher grade of meal is separated out in passing over the finer screen, while the coarser grade is passed through the largermcshes at the lower part of the screen, the fiber and what hull particles have failed to pass through the larger meshes of the screen being tailed off at the lower end of the screen. Suitable hoppers or receivers, P Q, are placed beneath the different sections of the screen for the purpose of collecting the different grades of meal.

\Vhile I have only shown two sizes of wire upon the screen, it is obvious that the number may be increased so as to divide the meal product into a greater number of grades.

Motion is preferably imparted to both sets of rolls through a series of gears driven from a gear, R, mounted on the fly-wheel shaft S, that is provided with a large pulley, and is driven from the main power-belt T. The latter also, through suitablepulleys, drives the toothed cylinder M and the shaft 1:, which imparts motion through suitable bevel-pinions to the reel or screen. The upper teed-cylinder, 0, receives motion from the shaft of the toothed cylinder M through a belt, V, and suitable gearing, as shown in Fig. 3, while the lower feed-cylinder is driven by a belt, V, from a pulley on the shaft S.

The revolving screen is preferably covered to prepare not only cotton-seed meal in a clean and pure state freefrom fiber and hull partieles for stock-feeding or fertilizing purposes,

but also to grind for his stock the oats, corn,

and other grains which he ordinarily has to send to a distant mill to be ground.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new is 1. As a means for effecting a continuous and uniform feed of cotton-seed, and in combination with a hopper or receptacle and the curved feeding-chamber, the revolving cylinder provided with a series of blades whose broad curved faces are arranged longitudinally of the cylinder, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for crushing or grinding cotton-seed, the combination of an upper pair of rolls, one of which is smooth and the other of which is provided with a series of longitudinal grooves having abrupt shoulders, such'as described, and plain surfaces between the grooves, with a second pair of rolls arranged beneath the first-mentioned pair, and the one smooth and the other having longitudinal grooves shallower than those of the corresponding upper roll and less in number, leaving wider plain sdrfaces between the grooves," all operating substantially as described.

3. 111 the herein -described machine for crushing and grinding cotton-seed, the combination,with the co-operating crushing-rolls,

of the rotary toothed feeding-cylinder arranged beneath said rolls, and the serrated cylinder and concave, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

4. In the hereindescribed crushing or grinding cotton-seed, and incombination with the crushing-rolls and serrated cylinder and concave thereof,the rotary feeding-cylinder having its teeth set tangentially, as described, and the chamber in which said feeding-cylinder works, having one side in clined and the other curved and concentric with the feeding-cylinder, substantially as described.

5. The combination,witl1 the feeding-cylinder having the tangcntiallyarranged teeth, the chamber in which said cylinder is located, the serrated cylinder and concave, the latter being adjustable and carrying the curved wall of the feeding-cylinderchamber, whereby the adjustment of the serrated concave also effects the adjustment ofv the concave side of said feeding-cylinder-chamber, substantially as described. I v

6. The herein-described machine for crushing or grinding cotton-seed, consisting of the hopper and upper feeding-cylinder having the broad blades, the pairs of crushing-rolls con sisting each of a smooth roll and a grooved roll, such as described, the lower feeding cylinder having the tangentially-arranged teeth, the serrated cylinder and concave, and the revolving screen, the whole constructed and arranged substantially as described.

THOMAS TAYLOR. Vitnesses:

FRED F. CHURCH, Grills. It. BURR.

r for 

